Peace Corps, Love And Happiness | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

Peace Corps, Love And Happiness

Why should people change their thinking of what the Peace Corps means.

33
Peace Corps, Love And Happiness
Huffington Post

Earlier this year I had made some big decisions in my life. I am at that time in college where I need to start thinking about what I want to do. Should I go to graduate school? Should I move away for my career? What do I even want to do? I knew for a fact that I wanted to travel. I wanted to get out of the states and see the world. But I also knew I wanted to help people. My dream was always to somehow change the world. Yes, I know that that’s most peoples dreams, everyone wants to change the world, but I don’t care how big or small that change is as long as there was some lasting impact. I wanted to leave my footprint on this earth. I wanted proof that I had once lived here. So after extensive research and planning out what I want my future to hold I decided that I wanted to join the Peace Corps.

When you hear Peace Corps you usually think of peaceful and hippie-like people. Hippies aren’t necessarily the long braided, tie dye wearing, pot smoking high school dropouts that many people believe thanks to shows like SouthPark. But, rather, they are people who believe in peace, love and happiness. Obviously some are more extreme than others. So when I told my friends this idea and they called me a hippie I was kind of offended by their arrogance because I knew they had a negative connotation with that word. I was told that I was wasting my talents and that I was too smart to just run off to Africa and not use my intellect. I didn’t realize that my wanting to help people in third world countries was such a bad thing. I wanted to get immersed in other cultures and learn and understand how other people think and live their everyday lives.

Somehow the Peace Corps gets a bad rep and I’m not sure why. I don’t know where kids our age get this idea that it’s so terrible to want to do things like this. The Peace Corps offers amazing opportunities and even helps out with your education. Now you have to have had four years of college or five years of work experience to apply, but in many cases they can help pay off your loans. They cover your travel expenses and each month you get two paid vacation days to go exploring and traveling while you are abroad. This also opens a lot of career opportunities for you and at many schools returned Peace Corps volunteers get reduced payment for graduate school.

I think this is not a choice to be taken lightly and to sign up for on a whim; however, I think that it would be beneficial to a lot of people and I wish more people ere open to it. We are all content living in our little bubble and I think that we need to open up and explore the possibilities outside our comfort zone. Also not stereotype people based on their beliefs and goals; most people have good intentions and your judgment can really have a negative impact on their dreams.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

300362
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments